News in Brief: A Washington Roundup

First Title IX Panel Meeting Held Behind Closed Doors

A Department of Education advisory committee formed to study the
status of Title IX met for the fist time in late July. The meeting was
not announced beforehand and was not open to the public.

The Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, formed by Secretary of
Education Rod Paige in June, will hold meetings around the country to
examine ways of strengthening enforcement and expanding the reach of
the 30-year-old federal law barring sex discrimination in any education
program that receives federal funding. Mr. Paige's move came on the
heels of criticism from women's groups that he and the Bush
administration did not vigorously support Title IX enforcement.

After the July 29 meeting, the co-chairs of the advisory committee,
Cynthia Cooper, a former Women's National Basketball Association star,
and Ted Leland, the director of athletics at Stanford University, said
the time was right to revisit the law.

Department officials say a schedule of commission meetings for the
coming year should be issued soon.

The meeting was held behind closed doors, department spokesman
Daniel Langan said, because it was an organizational gathering dealing
with administrative issues.

At least one expert on open-meetings laws questioned that decision.
Rebecca Daugherty, the Freedom of Information Service Center director
for the Arlington, Va.-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
Press, said that because the commission's charter explicitly states
that the panel is governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, "you
meet in public unless one of the exemptions apply." Ms. Daugherty said
she did not believe the panel could close its doors for organizational
purposes.

—Michelle R. Davis

House Mulls Education Tax Break

A key committee vote on a bill that would allow parents a tax
deduction of $3,000 for school expenses was postponed in July but will
be rescheduled for September.

The House Ways and Means Committee had been scheduled to mark up the
proposed "Back to School Tax Relief" Act of 2002 on July 25, but put
that step off until the House returns next month from its summer
break.

The measure would allow a parent whose income is $20,000, or $40,000
for a married couple filing its tax returns jointly, to take $3,000 in
above-the-line deductions for expenses related to K-12 education in
public, private, religious, or home schools. Those expenses could range
from tuition and tutoring to transportation and school supplies, and no
itemization would be required. It's estimated to cut federal revenue by
$4.9 billion over four years.

A married couple earning $35,000 with one child in public school,
taking the maximum deduction, would save about $450, according to the
Ways and Means Committee.

—Michelle R. Davis

Agency Management Gains Seen

In a federal scorecard released last week that rates government
agencies' progress on management reforms, the Department of Education
got the highest rating—a green dot—in four out of five
categories.

The ratings, done by the White House Office of Management and
Budget, follows President Bush's call last year for improvements in
various areas, including attracting talented people to government
service, controlling costs, better use of the Internet for services,
and financial and performance accountability.

In a rating last year, the education agency received dreaded red
dots, the color of failure, in all categories.

But July's midyear assessment was a different story. The Education
Department received green dots for human capital, competitive sourcing,
e-government, and budget and performance integration. In the area of
financial management, the department got a yellow dot, signifying mixed
results.

When it comes to actually meeting the president's management goals,
not just making progress toward them, the Education Department is still
in the red, along with every other agency except for the National
Science Foundation. "There's still work to do," said Daniel Langan, the
department's spokesman, "but we've done quite a bit to improve the
operation of the department."

—Michelle R. Davis

Report: Tech Divide Still Exists

While more Americans have access to technology, "significant divides
still exist" between groups such as the middle class and the poor,
rural and urban areas, and Northern and Southern states, according to a
private report that challenges an earlier federal study.

"Bringing a Nation Online: The Importance of Federal Leadership"
blasts the study by the Department of Commerce as painting an "overly
optimistic picture" of a narrowing digital divide. The new report,
published by the Washington-based Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Education Fund and the Benton Foundation, also says the Bush
administration would impede technology access if it eliminated two
major technology-funding programs.

Both the Commerce Department's technology-opportunities program and
the Department of Education's community-technology-center initiative
are slated for elimination in Mr. Bush's proposed fiscal 2003 federal
budget. Since 1995, those programs have awarded $300 million in
grants.

—Rhea R. Borja

'Fed Up' Goes Toes Up in House

Legislation that aimed to give college students more flexibility in
deciding when to take out loans and to bring regulatory relief to
borrowers and universities died on the House floor last month, an
apparent casualty of election-year partisan rancor.

Republicans thought they had bipartisan support for the measure,
dubbed "Fed Up." But on July 16, it was defeated in the House after
Democrats rallied against it.

"I was disappointed in their reaction, because the students are the
ones who suffer as a result," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Howard
"Buck" McKeon, R-California.

But Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said the GOP had shut his party
out of the process by refusing to allow for consideration of any
amendments, including several measures aimed at increasing loan
forgiveness for students. In a statement, Mr. Miller accused
Republicans of "an abuse of the legislative process."

The bill would have allowed colleges to give out money in single
installments, rather than more gradual disbursements. Among other
provisions, it also would have waived federal rules forcing first-time
borrowers to wait 30 days before getting their loans.

Mr. McKeon, who had solicited comments from students and
financial-aid officials on an Internet site before introducing the
bill, expressed little optimism that it could be revived this year.

—Sean Cavanagh

Census Study: Education Pays

The amount of money people earn over their lifetimes is likely to be
greater if they earn a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree,
according to a recent study released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the report, "The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and
Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings," a high school graduate on
average can expect to earn $1.2 million over his or her adult career. A
student who achieves a bachelor's degree, in comparison, can expect to
make $2.1 million, and a master's-degree recipient, $2.5 million.
Students who earn doctorates or professional degrees stand to make even
more money, according to the study.

The estimates of lifetime earnings were based on a working career
from age 25 to 64. The report can be seen at the Census Bureau's Web
site, www.census.gov, under "Newsroom" and "Releases," for July 18.

—Sean Cavanagh

Surgeon General Confirmed

The Senate has confirmed Richard H. Carmona as the next surgeon
general in a unanimous voice vote. The approval came July 23 without
debate.

Dr. Carmona, an Arizona trauma surgeon and deputy sheriff, will
succeed former Surgeon General David Satcher, whose term expired in
February. The post has been vacant since then.

As part of his new responsibilities, Dr. Carmona will oversee
reports and initiatives on issues affecting school-age children. His
predecessor's focus on children's mental health helped make the issue a
higher national priority.

Former Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander moved a step closer to
joining the Senate last week, when he defeated his opponent in
Tennessee's gop primary.

With about two-thirds of the vote counted at press time, he had
secured 54 percent of Republican votes to win the party's nomination,
defeating U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant.

"It means more support for schools and more support for local
control of how that money is spent," Mr. Alexander told supporters
election night, according to The Tennessean newspaper of
Nashville. Mr. Alexander, who served two terms as Tennessee's governor
from 1979 to 1987, was education secretary from 1991 to 1993 under the
first President Bush.

Mr. Alexander, 62, now faces off in the general election against
Democratic Rep. Bob Clement, whose father also was governor of the
state. If elected, Mr. Alexander would be the first U.S. education
secretary ever to serve in Congress.

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